Author's Notes
Hello everybody. So this idea has been floating around in my head for a while along with another one I might try but I wanted to see the reception on both. This is chapter 1 of An Unorthodox Hyuga, but it's more of a teaser. I'll likely be posting the first chapter to another fanfic idea I have as well and seeing which one gets a better reception and which ever one does better will get more of my attention.
The Hyuga Clan has always been one of my favorite clans in Naruto and I was playing around with the idea of what they could do if they used their affinity(?) with chakra points to do something a bit different. I won't spoil what that is yet.
This first chapter was a bit chaotic cause while I was writing it my head was going through 20 concepts at once and how I'll make sense of them all. That, and I struggled with making the scene interesting and having stuff happen while making sense.
Also I wasn't quite clear but the MC is in fact female, and the lack of names is sort of on purpose. Since the MC is dealing with identity issues I felt that the lack a clear name would emphasize that point. That and I forgot to add one.
Feedback is always welcome.
I don't own Naruto.
Please enjoy.
Chapter 1
Who am I?
It's one of those odd philosophical questions you often see in movies. Not knowing who you are, you have your traits but you don't really acknowledge them until you ask yourself that one question. Oftentimes in stories it's accompanied by a big climax or dramatic awakening. For me that question was freakishly more literal, because I woke up this morning not knowing who I am. But at the same time I did know.
It was an odd feeling. My mind feels like a multiple choice question where I'm trying to figure out if it's A or B. I'm going to go with C though, all of the above. It's simpler that way and it makes the most sense. Now I just need to wait for my brain to catch up with that and get rid of this migraine.
I am, or I used to be, but I still am, but I'm more now too. Eh whatever, it's an old habit of mine to overthink things like this. I always just end it by reminding myself that it doesn't matter much and I know what I mean, it's my head after all. For simplicity I'll say used to be. I used to be an individual, a somewhat normal Canadian teenager, 17 to be exact. I was about as normal as you could get in a world full of weirdos, brown hair, brown eyes, average height. "Was", past tense. I died. I don't remember it much. I was on the receiving end of it and things get blurry when your consciousness fades away. I do remember it being unpleasant. But that's not very interesting, not to me at least.
Who I am now is far more interesting. I am currently a citizen of Konoha, a child, 4 in fact which is odd for my former teenager self. I am a Hyuga, and as such I have a fairly typical Hyuga appearance, brown hair, and white eyes, although I will say that I have a pretty good face for a 4 year old.
Calling each part of myself as separate entities isn't completely right. This body was born with my soul and memories, I simply wasn't aware of them until now, which I am rather thankful for, it means I don't have to remember being a baby all over again, and I didn't have to deal with having new parents, as cruel as it sounds, since they died before I was self aware.
As for the next thing that's been parading around my head. I'm in the world of Naruto. Some people would be terrified of being in a world where everything can, and possibly wants, to kill you. Other people with less of a survival instinct would think it's cool and want to become a ninja. I find myself somewhat in between. I do want to be a shinobi, both past and current me. The Hyuga part of me wants to serve the village and serve the clan, and the non-Hyuga part of me wants something I didn't have in my past life… a purpose, something I can put my everything into. If I die in the process… well… already did that once so what's one more time, right?
As for the timeline… Doesn't really matter. I'm well aware of how badly things could end up if I mess with things but there's no guarantee that things will work out if I try to stay out of it, hell, my very existence could cause deviations, and there's no guarantee that there isn't anyone else like me. Of course one of my biggest reasons for not caring about the timeline is that I refuse to waste my second chance at life doing something I don't want to do on the possibility something will go wrong. Of course I will gladly use what info I have, knowledge is power after all.
I finally looked up from the spot on the floor I had been focusing on. I usually do that when I have things to work out in my head, it helps me think more clearly. I looked around my familiar yet unfamiliar apartment and laughed to myself. I lived for 17 years in my past life, never moving out on my own, and yet here I am, a 4 year old, with my own apartment.
I checked the time, it looks like it's about time to go. I quickly tied my hair up and walked out the door.
In the Hyuga clan is very stuck on tradition, every member must become a ninja and serve the clan and you don't get a choice in the matter. They start teaching you how to be a ninja the moment you're able to move around normally. As a member of a branch family I have to attend classes to prepare me for the academy. It's mostly taijutsu lessons, the clan refuses to let any members learn a taijutsu style other than the Gentle Fist so they teach it early on to get the basics into your head. It also gives clan members a head start compared to the other academy students. Although calling them classes is a bit of a long shot. As soon as you can read properly they just assign you homework and leave you be until it's due.
I was walking down to the Hyuga training fields, not to do the homework (I had already finished), but for another reason. It's a bit early but I wanted to check my Chakra Nature.
I'm a bit of an outcast among the clan, they call me the "defect Hyuga". I'm incompatible with the Gentle Fist despite being a Hyuga. I was diagnosed with an abnormal sensitivity to chakra, which I now realize is most likely because of my past life. In some ways it's a good thing, I can sense people around me and it will probably increase the capabilities of my Byakugan, but it also makes how I use chakra more unstable. When I expel chakra from my body as necessary for the Gentle Fist it doesn't stop coming out, it's all or nothing and it comes out fast. It's difficult to not do, it's like when you get a needle at the doctors and they tell you not to tense but you can't help but tense anyways once it's stuck in there.
Before I became… aware, I had been stubbornly trying to learn the gentle fist anyways, I wanted to prove them wrong, that I wasn't a defect, but now that I have gained my past life's maturity and memories I may have a solution. If I'm right I won't be "defective" anymore. I still won't be able to properly use Gentle Fist but rather than the "Defect Hyuga" I'll be more… unorthodox, yeah I like the sound of that. It'll probably piss off a few of those tradition loving bastards too.
I quickly stopped by one of the ninja supply stores to pick up some Chakra Induction Paper, and rushed down to the field. Chakra Induction Paper is a special type of paper produced for finding a person's chakra nature. I believe the Hyuga clan has a wind affinity based on techniques like the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm and if I'm correct and that applies to me as well then… well I don't know but I'll be happy.
I took the paper out and put it in the palm of my hand. All right, I've got to be careful, I don't need a lot of chakra, just enough to get the paper to show a reaction.
I took a deep breath and focused on carefully moving my chakra towards the palm of my hand. Slowly but surely it moved from my chakra coils, up my body, to my shoulder, and down my arm into my palm, and just a little bit out-
"Shit!" I cursed. The moment the chakra exited my body it started pouring out rapidly. I could feel my chakra reserves depleting. Okay okay, calm down, relax. Deep breath in… and breathe out all my tension.
...
That helped but it's still going, one more time then. In…
...
and out.
It stopped. Ha! I did it. Every time I did it in the past a clan member would have to block off my chakra points to that part of the body, but I did it!
I felt my knees give out and I collapsed to the ground. I looked down at myself and realized I was covered in sweat, that must have taken more out of me than I thought. I let the rest of my body go as I bell on my back. I was breathing heavily with a smile on my face, I managed to stop my chakra flow! I can be a ninja!
I saw something in the corner of my eye and turned my head to see the Chakra Induction paper cut cleanly in half. It took a moment to register what that meant, but when it did my smile turned into a full blown grin. Wind nature. Just what I wanted.